Endgame
by badwolf1
Summary: Chaos tightens its iron grip as the final days of the war begin to draw in. With Nick, Zaxert, and Lord Eustace preparing to finish this once and for all, can Jimmy stop this, and at what price?
1. Chapter 1

_**Endgame.**_

_**badwolf1.**_

_**Part One: War.**_

_**A.N. Sorry for the wait!**_

_**Prologue.**_

This is the story of a war. A story of two people, destined to fight to the end. All things come to an end. In a single second everything can change. This is a story of love, of death, of taking chances. This is the end of everything. This is the end of Jimmy Neutron. This the end of Cindy Vortex. The end of Eustace Strych. The final moves are about to be made. This is the story of a war.

_Extract from Jimmy Neutron's diary, dated 2009._

Have you ever feared something so much, that you would give anything not to do it? Do you know what it is like to live in the shadows, to live in an age of darkness? A time when your every action haunts you, a time when a single choice can be the difference between life and death? I know what it is like to live in such times, and it is as if everything has come to an end. But in a sense, it has.

My name is Jimmy Neutron, and I'm sixteen-years-old. I have a girlfriend called Cindy Vortex, and I have two friends called Libby and Carl. I used to have a third friend, but I'll come back to that.

About four years ago, I met a billionaire boy named Eustace Strych. We were in a final of a competition, and I beat him. Furious at having lost to what he thought was a common person, he challenged me to a battle between our robotic pets. Foolishly I accepted, and managed to destroy his robot pet with the help of Goddard. Strych was now unbelievably angry, and he vowed revenge.

Strych then disappeared, and I hoped vainly that he was gone forever. My hopes were destroyed when he reappeared, this time determined to become the king of Mars. I did all I could to defeat him, and succeeded. Eustace became even more infuriated with me, despite our temporary alliance to stop the Earth's destruction.

Then came The League Of Villains, a terrible group of my past enemies attempting to destroy me. They nearly succeeded, but me and my friends stopped them. I sealed the league away, but they escaped and began to plot my downfall...

Their plans however, never came to fruition. The group could never decide on a way to destroy me, so Eustace left them and sought to wipe me out single handedly. What followed was the beginning of the war, and the beginning of mine and Cindy's relationship. Eustace originally kidnapped my family and friends, and intended to blackmail me into humiliating myself on national TV. He would have killed me afterwards, ensuring I was dead and my name a disgrace. Cindy and the others escaped though, and ruined Eustace's reputation instead. After this, with absolutely nothing left to lost, Eustace vowed revenge and swore both me and Cindy would die at his hand...

Feeling it to be the best cause of action at the time, me and Cindy fled to an island where we were once stranded. Here I came to a startling revelation, I was in love with Cindy. As we enjoyed ourselves on the island, Eustace attacked our city, Retroville, in the hopes of finding and killing us.

I returned with Cindy in tow, and confessed my feelings to her seconds before running away to face Eustace in one final confrontation. The billionaire should have killed me, but another member of The League Of Villains stopped him. This member was my enemy King Goobot, and he informed me that The League wanted Eustace gone as well. We formed a temporary alliance, and fought against Eustace's army together. Eustace attempted to escape, so I followed him. Eventually after a long battle we came to a clifftop, and Cindy joined me in the supposed final battle. Together we captured Eustace, but he threw himself off the cliff to prevent being turned over to the authorities. That appeared to be the end of it. How little we knew.

The next eight months passed without incident, until we received a message from Carl that he had been taken prisoner whilst abroad. Wasting no time at all, me and Cindy prepared ourselves to save him. We made the mistake of not telling Sheen and Libby, and that very mistake still haunts me. As we were about to set off, the future selves of myself, Cindy, Libby, and Sheen appeared from nowhere. They told us of an apocalyptic world where they were being hunted down by a robotic enemy, they agreed to help us save Carl after learning of his captor. The man in question was Desmond Hunt, a shadowy character who had fled from the future to destroy one of my friends. Unfortunately Carl had been in the vicinity.

We arrived at the Island where Hunt was, when a trap was sprung. We separated, and agreed to meet up at the holiday resort Carl was held hostage at. Older Jimmy and Cindy never made it, they were killed before they reached the meeting place. Nobody really knows how they met their demise, or where the bodies are. We soon encountered Hunt, and discovered his plan to betray his master and conquer Earth for himself. The plan never reached its final stages, we rescued Carl and I killed Hunt. However, both Sheen and Libby died; and Carl's Dad didn't make it either. We never discovered where his Mum vanished.

With Hunt gone, The General himself made himself known and all hell broke loose. Sheen and Libby found out about our distrust of him, and Sheen left the group furious. Soon after, one day after actually, Nick Dean joined the group. Without Sheen, Nick battled against the forces of darkness alongside us, if only we had known...

Eventually the real dark master was revealed, none other than Eustace himself. He told the fascinating story of how he survived the fall, and created machine parts to integrate with his damaged body.

Me, Nick, and Cindy tried the stop The Generals rampage of terror, while Libby and Carl attempted to stop Eustace. We succeeded, but Libby and Carl only just escaped.

By now Sheen had disappeared, and Eustace had tricked us into believing he was the elusive Captain D. How wrong we were. As our distrust of Sheen grew, the real Captain D took a bank hostage. Sheen happened to be prisoner of one of the corrupt employees anyway, so he discovered Eustace's master plan: to detonate a bomb to eradicate humanity.

Our trust in Sheen renewed, we tried to trace the bomb. By this time Nick had disappeared, and we all thought him to be dead. Just another mistake...

We found the bomb, and disarmed it with mere seconds to spare. However, our victory was short lived, Captain D was revealed to be Nick, and he swiftly killed Sheen. With the est of us mourning our loss, Eustace dropped yet another bombshell: due to past events which had now be erased from the time-line, I had inadvertently caused him to become the ultimate evil! Reeling from the shocks of Nick's betrayal, and the news that I was the creator of the lord of shadows, Eustace departed.

I soon broke the news to the population of Earth that we were at war, and we formed a new army. This army was full of both humans and machines, and we felt it was as strong as possible. Every citizen on Earth was a member of the army in some way or another, and we waited from news of Eustace's attack.

And now at long last, the war has come to Earth. We have waited for three years, but the bombs have fell. Millions and millions of people have perished, and more will soon. All of Earth is a battleground, its inhabitants one half of the war.

I am writing this so that someone will know what I have been through, because I think my end is near. Some feeling tells me that I won't have the chance to write in this again, so here is my life. The story of a war.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Part One: War.**_

_**Chapter One: Rose.**_

The blasts from the tanks were deafening, and the overhead sounds of bomber planes didn't improve the situation. Jimmy Neutron grimaced at the approaching machines, and swiftly upholstered his weapon. Jimmy rolled to the side, and fired at the metal monsters. The first line of robots fell, but more continued their advance at their slow yet powerful pace. Jimmy bit the pin off a grenade, and tossed it at his enemies accurately. The spectacular explosion only created yet another loud noise, but Jimmy ignored it. His deep blue eyes were too busy scanning the nearby area, his every sense trained to pinpoint the machines. After ensuring that there was no immediate threat to the army's security, Jimmy retreated cautiously.

Lieutenant Eric Gadder blasted two machines into pieces, and then evaded an attack from another robot. He shot it straight through the head, and it collapsed. A loud clapping rang through the battlefield, and Gadder swivelled around to see an alien whose name was synonymous with fear itself.

"I'm very impressed, I didn't think that any human could fight so well." The pale blood like eyes observed Eric slowly, never taking their tiny black pupils away from the man.

"I thought you were dead." The Lieutenant replied emotionless, and the alien only laughed and clapped even more.

"I'm too skillful to be killed, although I'm glad you've heard of me. I regret to say I have never heard of you, but from what I've just seen you are indeed worthy of recognition." The creature smiled, and his sharp teeth glinted cruelly.

"You're Zaxert Huterx aren't you?" Eric said, whilst gradually readying his weapon.

"I am, renowned hit man, at your service."Zaxert bowed ever so slightly, smiling the entire time.

"Does your service include dying?" Eric shouted, and he fired at the alien. Zaxert instantly dived out of the way, and he was behind the Lieutenant in seconds.

"That comes at an additional fee." Zaxert said, before striking the man cleanly across the face. Gadder slid across the floor, and gave himself up to the darkness...

"There are no more machines, not yet anyway." Cindy Vortex flicked a loose blond hair back into place, and watched the monitors obsessively. Jimmy nodded, only absorbing the information he needed. His eyes darted to every corner of the command centre, examining every tiny crack and fault in the new temporary base of operations. He could have built something far more efficient, but, like the last command center, it would only be blown up. After ensuring that nothing has accessed the base, Jimmy tuned himself back into Cindy's words.

"Libby comes in an hour, and Carl should be coming as well." Jimmy actually cracked a smile at the thought of seeing his friends again, it had been too long.

"How is Libby?" Jimmy inquired, curious over his friend's success on the battlefront.

"She's doing well, she said that no new fleets have been spotted coming towards us." Jimmy leant back, and cast his mind back to before the war. The genius would often do this, it was his only way of escaping the horrors of Eustace Strych. Since Sheen's death they had all changed, Carl had gotten into shape and improved his intellectual status. He was now a commander of the New Earth Army, and often spent his time fighting on the front lines. Libby had taken a longer period of time to become accustomed to Sheen being gone, much the same as Jimmy had. She was now the leader of the space fleet, having shown herself to be gifted in a cockpit more than anyone else. Cindy had taken up weapons practise, and fought as often as Carl. She had also improved her inventing skills, and now rivalled Jimmy himself with machinery. Jimmy had, like his girlfriend, trained himself to use a weapon. He often built his own guns and swords, preferring them to the standard edition everyone else was given. He was currently fingering a pulse rifle, a long blaster rifle with a built in EMP device, and rapid fire capability.

Cindy brushed her hair away from her eyes, and gazed softly into Jimmy. He was scarred in several places, his hands always trembled unless they were placed against a cold steel weapon, but what scared Cindy most was Jimmy's eyes. Those deep blue puddles that had once held so much love, they now only held hate, shadows, and buried beneath all that: fear. Fear of letting everyone down, fear of what had happened to Sheen happening to the others. Jimmy was a changed man, and Cindy sometimes wondered if he had changed for the better.

In the middle of the bloodstained battlefield, lay something that, despite the bombs, had survived. It was a Rose, a simple plant that could have once been found all over the Earth. But it was much more than a plant, it was the embodiment of hope. Hope that if one thing could survive the horrors of the battle, then maybe the Earth, Jimmy and the others could survive as well.

Jimmy smiled at Cindy, and she returned it. He looked tired, it was probably just battle-fatigue.

"Carl and Libby will arrive in five minutes." He said, his darkened eyes reading the memo passed to him.

"Good, I can't wait to see them again." Jimmy took Cindy's hand, and they sat together as the minutes passed. There was still hope, maybe they would have a happy ending after all.

Eric Gadder awoke with a headache that any alcoholic would have been proud of, and he was unsurprised to discover he was chained to a chair in a damp cramped room. Zaxert stepped in, his green skin pale and sickly.

"Why have you kept me here?" The Lieutenant questioned the alien bounty hunter, and Zaxert flashed him a shocking and evil grin.

"When Jimmy comes for you, he'll die. Then the lord of shadows will take Earth, and crush it under his power. That's why you're still alive, you're the bait." Eric felt a sinking feeling, this would not end well.

The machines marched, their metallic footsteps cracking the ground beneath their steel feet as they exited the ship that had brought them to Earth. The metal monsters stomped towards the battle, and the androids prepared for their next attack. Nobody noticed a Rose crushed as the machines walked over it, and like the Rose, hope was finished.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Part One: War**_

_**Chapter Two: Hero**_

Eric awoke and made a mental note to carrysomething to prevent headachesat all times. The chair in which he sat was brown in colour, although red stains were spread unevenly on it. Eric thought about everything he had left behind, his family, his friends, the woman he loved. Was she okay? Did she know that he had been taken hostage? Was she dead? The final thought ripped through Eric, and after that he remained still for a very long time.

Jimmy shook Carl's hand, and clapped him on the back as he came into the base.

"How are you Jim?" Carl asked his old friend, as he took a seat on the sofa lay out for him.

"I'll be better when all this is over." Jimmy said with a trace of humour, and Carl nodded.

"Wouldn't we all, but we know that is a while away yet." The voice cut through the thoughtful silence, and everyone turned to see Libby Folfax standing in the doorway.

"Libby!" Cindy squealed, and the she hugged her best friend tightly. Cindy stepped back, and she looked at her friend for the first time in eight months. Libby still had brown hair, her face was now more mature, and her hair was let down. She looked completely different to the girl who had once loved music and a boy named Sheen.

Carl also looked completely different to how he used to, his hair was now black, and he had ceased to wear glasses after Jimmy had corrected his vision. He was now six foot, and was in shape. A diamond ring was on his middle finger, a ring given to him by his fiancee Sarah. Carl had worn the beautiful ring as a sign he would always love her, and she had worn his engagement ring in exchange. They had become engaged during the second year of the war, Jimmy smiled when he thought about Sarah. He would never forget the short, brunette who had been so deadly. His smile became tinged with sadness, he would not forget Sarah, but neither would he forget her screams of agony as she died. Carl had been distraught, and had slaughtered an entire planet of Eustace's followers in retaliation. Sarah had died on the planet Razak, tortured to death by Zaxert Huxert. Jimmy cast his eyes downward, so many lives had been lost in the war.

Zaxert wandered in the cell at a slow pace, his black pupils coming to rest on his prisoner.

"You're going to help me kill Jimmy Neutron, how does that make you feel?" Eric spat at the feet of his captor.

"I'll never help you." Zaxert unveiled a sword, it shone with its holder's malevolence as it came down to rest on Eric's head.

"Not a wise choice, now don't be a hero." The sword stayed where it was, but Eric had long since made the decision to ignore any threat to his life.

"Being the hero is better than being the villain." He told Zaxert, and the alien mercenary laughed harshly.

"Do you really think so? You're the big hero, save everyone, and what's left for you: nothing. You sacrifice everything to save the universe, and then there's nothing left worth saving. Because the reason you fought to keep the universe safe is dead, and so is your dream of a happy life. The only thing a hero earns is a hero's death, and what reward is that?"

"Better than dying quietly, I would much rather die fighting."

"Your loyalty to your friends does you credit, but it won't get you anywhere." Zaxert momentarily paused, as if waiting a response, and then continued.

"Do you know my story?" Eric shook his head, now determined to listen to Zaxert's words.

"I was a bounty hunter, and I hunted the corrupt. I killed those people who deserve it, I always spared the innocent people. Then, I found my wife and children gone. The house was a wreck, blood stained every wall. They were taken and killed because I wanted to make the world a better place. Then the media reported that I had killed them and, to my horror, everybody believed them! The entire civilised universe thought I had killed my family, and then I decided the entire universe was corrupt. That's why I kill now, everyone is corrupt. They all deserve to die, and they all will."

Eric felt uncomfortable, Zaxert was not the evil creature he had envisioned him to be. He was angry at his family's disappearance, and had lashed out in retaliation.

"I've met Jimmy before, do you know that?" This time Eric nodded, every soldier knew that story.

"He lost a member of his group that day as well, a young girl named Sarah. How she screamed, how she begged for it to end. In the end her body was in pieces, she died protecting the man she loved. A foolish thing to do, considering how much I caused her to suffer." Zaxert began to walk out of the cell, and then turned around again.

"When the time comes, don't be a hero. You get no rewards, you only die." The alien left, and Eric pondered everything silently.

Jimmy received the tape an hour after Eric and Zaxert's conversation, and he shivered as he held it. Something bad was about to unfold, he knew it. He played the tape, and saw a face so despicable he could have shot the screen there and then.

"Jimmy, I'm sure you remember me. Before you eradicate this message, I wanted you to know that I have Lieutenant Eric Gadder as my hostage. I will expect you to be at Ghost Peak in two hours, if not then at someone else will die the same way Sarah did. I still remember her cries, do you Jimmy? Two hours, Ghost Peak." Carl's knuckles had whitened completely, and his vivid green eyes were burning with hatred.

"Do we set off now?" He asked Jimmy, already packing several weapons into a backpack.

"Yeah, it's best not to fly in. Is everyone ready?" The group nodded, and set off together towards the deadly confrontation with Zaxert Huxert...


	4. Chapter 4

_**Part One- War. **_

_**Chapter 3- Return of The League. **_

The tranquil silence of planet Yolkus was shattered as soon as the first blast of gunfire emerged from the ruined buildings, instantly destroying the fragile dream world that King Goobot had designed for himself during the single moment of peace on his planet. The very moment the guns were fired it was over, and once again war ruled Yolkus.

"Hurry! We must escape while we have time!" The King hurried his wife and child through a secret passage, and they began the long journey through the planet's core itself to avoid certain death.

"Surely the machines will drill here?" Metilli, Goobot's wife, questioned as she glided through the ancient pathways.

"Not for a long time, by that time you and Gasdert shall be free. That is my first priority." Metilli clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

"Your first priority should, and always should be, Yolkus." She scolded softly, and King Goobot swept her words aside in his haste.

"I must leave at once; I have been contacted by The League." Metilli shook her head, if she had been capable of shedding a tear she would have done.

"It is too risky; Neutron may not even assist you. How can you guarantee your safety?"

"Nobody is safe anymore, not anywhere." Goobot swept his son into his arms, and smiled sadly.

"Remember me, and keep yourself safe." He handed the infant to Metilli, who he kissed, and then he left without another word.

King Goobot set off through the heart of his world once more, occasionally staring at the ancient carvings etched into the crust of Yolkus. His ancestors had made these passageways in case the royal family had ever required to flee, but he doubted that they would be used in in a situation like this. The entire planet was at war, the entire universe. Everywhere the dead littered the streets, and his once advanced planet now resembled a war torn lower class world. The League Of Villains had voted to go to Earth, with the explicit intention of finding Jimmy Neutron and persuading him to help them. The people who remained in The League had voted anyway, or to phrase it differently: the people who were still alive. Professor Calamitous and Beautiful Gorgeous had both been killed at the fall of Feakert, and Baby Eddie had betrayed them to Eustace before being shot by Tee. Only six of them remained: himself, Junkman, Grandma Taters and the Space Bandits. They were unable to fight Eustace on their own, and without Jimmy they would perish. The King swept through the hidden entrance to the throne room, and made his way to the meeting place swiftly.

Everywhere Goobot looked there was terror and destruction, steel soldiers killing all living things. For a moment he looked upon his planet, and reflected on the good times he had seen whilst being its ruler. For some reason he could not comprehend he knew he wouldn't see it again, neither would he see his family again. Jimmy Neutron was their only hope now, and that thought scared him more than anything else. If Jimmy refused to save The League, King Goobot realized returning to his world would be pointless.

Tee, the space bandit, was waiting for King Goobot as he came to the ship they had hijacked. It wasn't particularly large, but neither was it a small and nimble fighter ship. It was blue, with twin engines. It should have been capable of light-speed warp, but Goobot noticed that the atomic-warp-drive controls had been permanently damaged.

"King Goobot, how is your family?" Grandma Taters inquired softly, she had known Metilli well, and had delivered Gasdert herself.

"They are fleeing as we speak, I can only hope they reach safety in time." A dark silence settled in the ship as they took off, nobody wanted to think about what would happen if they didn't manage to reach safety.

The ship took off, and headed out of the planet's atmosphere quickly and comfortably. Junkman was in the pilot's seat, driving the ship with relative ease.

The League Of Villains escaped from Yolkus, and were partly through the solar system, when suddenly a huge battle cruiser appeared from nowhere.

"They were invisible, battle stations!" Junkman cried out the words, and everyone manned a cannon or weapon.

The battle cruiser was an oblivion war ship, class one. It was the most feared of spaceships, its power and destructive abilities legendary. The oblivion ships had thought to be lost, wiped out when Feakert had been destroyed. It was black, with no other colour gracing its hull. Turrets, cannons, sniper balconies, and atomic war laser guns were plastered over inch of the ship. Junkman knew The League's pathetically armed ship was no match for this, if they had to fight it they would die.

"Open communications." Grandma Taters ordered, and a fearsome face appeared on the screen. The face was awful, it was metal, but parts were skin, the metal was black like the ship, the skin turning a dull grey, the merciless eyes were red, burning with the fires of hell itself, the thin lifeless mouth curled itself into a satisfied smirk, and the face settled itself to gaze at every member of The League.

"King Goobot, other distinguished members of The League, what a pleasure it is to see you again."

"Speak for yourself Strych." Zix said, and everyone nodded in unanimous agreement.

"Leaving so soon? The show is about to begin, I think that you will enjoy this." Eustace's voice was cold, mocking, he was in control of the situation; and he knew it.

"Gentlemen, and Grandma Taters, allow me to demonstrate a device designed by young Eddie before you disposed of him." Junkman shivered, he remembered how he had managed to use his last shot to kill the child.

Eustace's lifeless eyes widened as the ship began to generate a powerful field of energy, and focused it at Yolkus' sun. The energy caused everything to shake uncontrollably, and Eustace laughed triumphantly.

"Now you see Yolkus." Eustace pressed a single button, and a blinding light came from the sun.

"Now you don't." The light settled, but no Yolkus remained. Strych had destroyed it.

"No! I'll kill you! My family were on the planet!" Eustace chuckled darkly, but his face remained as cruel and harsh as ever.

"Well now they're dead, and quite frankly this is no time to mourn."

"Monster!" Taters choked, unable to believe Yolkus was gone.

"You're too kind to compliment me like that, but at least let me explain how I destroyed your precious Yolkus. I manipulated the energy of your sun using Eddie's device, and focused it into the core of the planet. The resulting reaction causes the planet, Yolkus for example, to implode and disappear. Beautiful machine isn't it?" Trovoltron and Zix were at boiling point, and they responded to Eustace's question by firing at his ship. The blasts bounced off the shields of the oblivion ship, but now Eustace was annoyed.

"I've grown tired of this, you'll pay with your lives for firing upon my glory." Two cannons let loose double blasts into the ship, and in the resulting confusion the ship began to plummet through the dead void of space.

Eustace laughed, and the oblivion ship flew away from the dead sun and world. It had other places to be.

Junkman grabbed the controls, quickly attempting to level the ship. He did so just in time, and was relieved to find that everyone was fine. Almost everyone. Zix and Trovoltron had been crushed under the debris where the blast had ripped through, they had never stood a chance. Grandma Taters remembered Eustace telling them that they would lose their lives for firing at him, only Zix and Trovoltron had fired. They were the only ones dead.

"Set course: Earth." King Goobot said shakily, the loss of his world and family not quite having set in yet. Tee knelt beside his dead friends, and howled miserably into the void like a wolf who had survived the decimation of his pack. Junkman entered the coordinates, set the ship on autopilot, and began to examine the damage. Soon after he would try to sleep, but his dreams would be filled with dead allies, oblivion ships, destroyed worlds, and a haunting confrontation with Eddie that had left him scarred...


	5. Chapter 5

_**Part One- War.**_

_**Chapter 4- Attack.**_

Rain beat down steadily as the sky darkened, and Jimmy and the others stole across the deserted battlefront. A brilliant flash of lightning lit up the sky, but the shadows soon took it for themselves again. The drumming of the rain irritated Carl, but he ignored it and focused his energy into preparing for Zaxert. The alien was a cunning foe, as he had learnt to his horror in their last encounter. This was about vengeance, nothing would distract him from his objective. Not even the pounding of the ever increasing rain, which was now a downpour.

Eric had been moved into a different cell, although the conditions were the same. He was mildly aware of a storm brewing, but he ignored it. His mind was in chaos, panic running rampant within its every corner. Every rational thought was accompanied by the exact opposite, and the optimism slowly drained out if him; almost as if he was a sieve. Despite futile efforts to think of happy scenarios, his brain projected images of Jimmy and the others dead with Zaxert standing over them. Part of him blamed himself for everything that was happening, another told him that Jimmy wouldn't come. He was a genius after all, surely he would recognize the risk of sacrificing everything to save a friend? However, there was the chance that he would come. If he did, the army was finished. Zaxert was taking no chances, Jimmy Neutron would die. Eric listened to the ferocious noise outside for a moment, the storm had come...

Carl took the lead as the group approached the base, he began to warm up his chain-gun as they grew ever closer. They were saturated, but it didn't dampen the rain didn't dampen their spirits. Jimmy nodded towards a small fighter ship, it was a single engine speed demon, designed for one person only. Libby cracked a genuine smile, and crept towards it silently. Machines were everywhere, all armed with blaster rifles. Carl gave the order, and rushed out in plain view of his enemies letting loose a torrent of laser bullets. The initial battle was short and sweet, with Carl obliterating the guards in mere seconds. Jimmy and Cindy followed him, still anxious that more robots could be hiding in the darkness. Their suspicions were proven correct, when only a few seconds later reinforcements poured into sight. Jimmy fired blindly, and was forced to drop to the cold muddy ground to prevent having his abnormally large head ripped from his shoulders. Cindy shot two machines, and used another as a shield. It soaked up the fire, when she was struck on the head from behind and collapsed instantly. Only Carl appeared to be able to keep the machines at bay, killing them one after the other with little effort. He finished off yet another one with a few well aimed shots to the head, and thendecided to take on the turret that had been positioned at the top of the base.

Libby made her way to the ship, and was unsurprised to find it guarded by four machines. She had expected some form of resistance, and then she saw him. A human, to be more precise, a human helping the machines. A traitor. Libby suddenly felt a surge of hot anger crash through her body, and it consumed her quickly. She despised traitors, ever since Nick she had hated the vile, cowards that betrayed others for their own gain. Libby watched the man for a while longer, and then shot two of the machines from point blank range. The other two robots swivelled around, but Libby took the brown haired man hostage before they could fire.

"Stay where you are! He dies if you make another move." The man nodded slowly, his voice tainted with obvious fear as he spoke.

"Do as she says! Let her do as she wants!" Libby tightened her ferocious grip on the mans neck, almost snapping it in her uncontrollable fury.

The tiny wires in the machine's brains set to work, processing the data and deciding what to do. Their basic programming was to conquer, destroy, kill, and follow orders of superiors. That was their job, what they had been created for. Now two orders conflicted, and the programming was not of much use to them. They had been given an order to do what the woman said, but they must also protect the ship and kill intruders. It made no sense to disobey either order, logic determined that both orders should be followed. If the human life-form were to give the order to kill the woman, they would follow it and succeed their programming. The wires began to think logically, attempting to discover the best cause of action.

The eyes showed nothing of the machines logic as Libby stared into them, challenging them to shoot her. She was not afraid of death, not any more.

"Please, don't hurt me. Spare me please..." The mans grovelling annoyed her, and she tempted to finish him there and then. But self-control urged her to forget the snivelling fool, and concentrated on the metal threat standing in front of her.

"We have come to a decision, it would make no sense for you to feel pain anymore." The mans eyes widened with grief and fear.

"Let me go! For Gods sake, please let me go! I don't want to suffer!" He squirmed and attempted to break free, but Libby held on tight. Her pity was dead.

"You shall not suffer, the dead do not suffer." The machines fired into the mans chest, and he slumped down dead. Libby rolled to the side, and put two shots into each robot. They too crumpled to the floor, and Libby started up the engine of the ship and flew towards the others.

Carl fired more rounds at the turret, but he couldn't hit it. More blasts threw him backwards, and he grimaced with pain. Jimmy and Cindy were defending him, but he couldn't carry on fighting an enemy armed so heavily. Even worse, the entrance to the base had been shut. Carl took one last shot at the turret, missed, and backed away to help his friends. The machines were falling fast, but the turret was allowing more and more to surge into battle as it fired. Jimmy and Cindy killed one together, and then looked up to see Libby flying towards them at top speed.

Libby smiled, and pressed the button for the missiles. The turret was struck by two rockets, and then she turned her attention to the foot soldiers. She activated her automatic machine guns, and watched as she destroyed all the machines at once. She looked towards the locked door, blasted it open; and then landed her ship safely.

The entire group cheered, and after reloading, looked at the base, and marched inside. Their initial attack had been successful, now for the real challenge. Zaxert awaited them...


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 5- Confrontation.**_

The four friends crept silently through the base, keeping a keen eye for Zaxert and his soldiers. However, no threat arose in the huge base; everything was perfect, too perfect. Jimmy had a gut feeling that they were walking into a trap, and that the initial guards outside had been a clever diversion. The genius was fully aware that he had strolled into an elaborate trap before; he had not intended for it to happen again. But here he was now walking into yet another scheme devised to kill him, and this time he knew he was doing it. What was he thinking? Why was he doing this?

Zaxert watched as the group stealthy infiltrated the base, snorted at their pathetic attempts to attack him sneakily, and visited his hostage. He had an offer for him.

Eric looked at the alien, and his eyes narrowed to form slits of hatred. He hadn't heard any gunshots; the Lieutenant was unaware of Jimmy's attempt to save him.

"What do you want?" The question was short and to the point, after everything he had been through Eric no longer felt it necessary to draw himself into a long conversation.

"So hostile, relax my young friend. I have a deal for you, one I'm sure you'll appreciate." The eyes remained slits, distrust buried along with the hatred.

"What sort of deal?" The eyes widened ever so slightly, and Zaxert smirked.

"I'm going to offer you your life and your freedom. In exchange for your complete disappearance, and that you never return to Earth or return to the New Earth Army." Zaxert watched and measured his reaction slowly, deciding whether to continue with his proposition or not. Then he saw it, in between the distrust and hatred, a tiny spark of something: greed. It was there wedged in between the other conflicting emotions, but it was trying to break free. This could work to the alien's advantage.

Jimmy took Cindy's hand, and pointed towards a computer room. She squeezed his hand as a sign she understood, and they made their way towards it slowly. Carl and Libby came from behind, watching their friend's backs and ensuring that nobody attacked them from the shadows.

Lieutenant Eric Gadder had never sprinted so quickly before in his life, he had to escape this Hell. He had taken the opportunity immediately, even though he had been ashamed to abandon his position at such a pivotal time. He made his way through the battlefields, when he came across a destroyed tank. The battle had been clearly recent, a few survivors lay injured on the ground. They were beyond saving by now, but it still hurt Eric to see them lying there waiting for their inevitable demise. He was even more shocked to spot Lieutenant Mark Ottert as one of those who was seriously hurt.

"Eric! I thought you'd been captured." Eric stopped, and realized it would be dishonorable to reveal the truth so he swiftly fabricated a lie.

"I managed to escape before anything serious happened, what happened here? Why didn't Jimmy and Carl stop all this?" There was a sudden sting in the Lieutenant's words, and he had a shocking and horrible thought about why the New Earth Army leaders might no longer be present to protect their troops.

"They're not with you? But they went to rescue you." Eric felt a terrible sinking feeling, they had gone to save him; and he had run like a coward when he had been offered the opportunity.

He gave one last glance at the battle, one last look at his friend Lieutenant Mark Ottert, and began to head back towards the base to save Jimmy.

Jimmy hacked into the mainframe, and began to shut down cameras all over the facility. His blue eyes softened as he did this, he was always calmed when he was working with machinery. Cindy smiled as she saw her boyfriend relax ever so slightly, despite the life threatening situation they were in. He shut down the last camera, and then a loud shrieking noise emitted from every possible place within the Hell of the evil base.

"An alarm! Guards are coming" Libby shouted the words as she loaded up weapon, and prepared to defend the room. Jimmy thought about it for a moment, and then decided they would need every bit of ammunition possible to take down Zaxert so he sprinted towards the door.

"No, we don't have time for this. Save our weapons for Zaxert; now we have to run or die." Cindy agreed with Jimmy, but Carl was frustrated with the decision.

"We can't run; we have to fight! I'm not being pursued by machines through this entire compound! We fight now, or we don't fight at all!" Carl readied his weapon, but Cindy put her hand on his and lowered the gun.

"Carl we have to leave now; Zaxert will survive if we don't!" Cindy eyes were full of understanding, full of sorrow for the tortured man before her, but they were still unyielding, still cruel and merciless. Cindy was more than prepared to do whatever it took to save lives, her battles with Eustace and his army had only strengthened her resolve to ensure her friends survived and the dark lord died.

"He won't live, believe me I'm going to kill Zaxert Huterx one way or another." Snarled the leader as he raised his gun, but Jimmy would never allow his group to be placed in harms way.

"We're running Carl! Now follow us at once! That's an order!" Carl relented, and the group fled with mere seconds to spare before being blasted to death at the hands of machines.

Libby watched as Carl complained about having to run; she suddenly felt as though her face was burning. She instinctively touched a scar on her cheek, and felt the wound wind down the side of her face. It had been left here by Nick Dean after his betrayal and murder of Sheen; she still blamed herself for that. She had taken Dean into the group, she had dated him in order to get over her breakup with Sheen, and he had been Eustace's second-in-command all along. She looked up towards the roof, and in her own clever mind she could see the dark night sky above her. She didn't know how she knew, she wasn't even one hundred percent she was right, but a gut feeling informed her that Nick Dean was coming. The traitor was returning to his home-world after three long war-torn years, and this time Libby would be ready for him. This time she would kill him.

Carl was now leading they way, his blind anger and hatred of Zaxert directing him, towards the control room. He knew that the machines would follow, but he hoped to have killed their leader by then.

The group came to the control room, and entered slowly, opening the door a bit at a time. There was Zaxert waiting for them, sitting cross-legged, perfectly relaxed and ready to fight.

Eric reentered the building easily enough, and he proceeded hastily through the long metal corridors. He knew he was nearing the moment where he would face death or live to die another die, but he still did not know what the final outcome would be.

Zaxert smiled, and he looked at each member of the attack force in turn.

"Hello my old friends, I take it you have come to exterminate me?" The words were lighthearted, they flowed from the mouth, and Carl grimaced at them.

He was sick of being taunted by the bounty hunter, tired of reliving the death of his fiancée in his nightmares, he just wanted it over.

"Die!" He fired at Zaxert eleven times, and every blast came to a shuddering halt for some strange reason. A forcefield, the group had been boxed inside a forcefield from the second they came into the room. Zaxert had bettered them, now he only had to finish it.

Eric approached the door, swung it open, and saw a horrifying site that he had hoped never to see. The New Earth Army leaders, Jimmy Neutron, Cindy Vortex, Libby Folfax, the woman he loved, but who didn't love him, and Carl Wheezer.

Zaxert scowled when he noted he had returned, and tackled him to the gerund with extraordinary speed.

"I warned you about coming back, about being a hero. Now you get a hero's death." Eric was forced onto his knees, and Zaxert pointed a pistol straight at the back of his head. The Lieutenant mouthed three words to Libby, and then Zaxert pulled the trigger.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 6- The end draws nearer.**_

Eric's poor lifeless body lay on the steel floor for a moment longer, then Zaxert ordered it to be disposed of. His sharp little pupils examined his four prisoners, and then disregarded them as a former threat that no longer needed to be feared. He had captured Jimmy and the others, he had killed the only person who knew the layout of his base well enough to stop him, now it was time for the final attack. He activated a signal to every machine within a ten thousand mile radius of the New Earth Army base, converge and destroy immediately. Leave no survivors.

Libby struggled with the shackles that bound her, but the sixteen-year-old could not break free. She was distraught over Eric's untimely death, mainly because he had been in love with her since the day he met her. The Lieutenant had proclaimed it to her several times, but each time she had rejected him, preferring to honor Sheen's lost memory then start a new life with someone. But in her moments of weakness, she had given it some thought. Libby was fully aware that she could not relive her precious seconds with Sheen forever, eventually she would have started dating again. After the war, when Eustace was gone, that had been her train of thought. But now Eric was gone, all those thoughts vanished instantly. They were replaced by a longing to end the entire war, to avenge her fallen comrades, a new fire had been lit within Libby, it was time to escape. She reached out with her left hand, her hands had been tied behind her back, and touched her three metal fingers on her right hand. She had lost the fingers when Nick had sliced them off during a battle, Jimmy had replaced them with metal ones after the battle. Because of Jimmy's genius, the fingers had been fitted with a laser, which Libby was now using to slowly and carefully cut through her chains around her hands without Zaxert noticing. She began to work on the others shackles as well, and they all pretended nothing was happening. If everything went according to plan, they would be free in mere minutes.

Nick Dean approached the throne gradually, keeping both of his eyes centred on his master.

"My lord, you sent for me?" Eustace nodded, and signalled for his second-in-command to come closer.

"I have sent for you Nick, tell me, how goes the war from the battlefront?" Nick bowed to Eustace, and then spoke once more.

"Well my lord. We conquer and destroy more and more day after day, although the universal alliance continues to fight well." Eustace looked bemused, he was longer worried over the alliance between the civilised worlds to stop him.

"They matter no more, now is time to deal with the real threat."

"Earth."

"Precisely, Jimmy Neutron must die if we are to take control, therefore I am sending you to Earth to annihilate the planet. You will take the oblivion ship, and fire upon our former world. Besides you have other business there my old friend: Libby Folfax for example." Nick stirred slightly at that name, and his hand touched the scar on his left cheek.

"When do I set out Lord Eustace?"

"Immediately, time is crucial now more than ever my friend. Soon we shall be the undisputed rulers of the universe; but first Jimmy Neutron must pay for his actions against us." Nick bowed once more, turned his back on Eustace, and headed towards the oblivion ship. The end was drawing near.

Carl felt his shackles come loose as soon as Libby finished, and he kept both of his eyes focused on Zaxert. They were biding their time now, waiting until the perfect opportunity came to escape. Then it arose, just as Carl, Jimmy, Cindy, and Libby were beginning to lose what little hope they had, Zaxert left the room. At the exact moment the alien bounty hunter did so, the attack came from all sides. Machines fell like dominoes everywhere, total carnage ruled for those vital seconds, then normality resumed in the control room.

Jimmy ran out of the base as fast as possible, the alarms had not yet sounded. Cindy followed, then Carl, with Libby bringing up the rear.

"Excellent job Libs, now reckon you can pilot us out of here?" Cindy asked, elated that her best friend had helped them escape.

"Can Jimmy make machinery?" Libby answered confidently, smiling despite seeing Eric's demise. Jimmy nodded to her in recognition of her quick thinking, gestured towards a cruiser ship, and entered grinning. The leaders had escaped, and they were out for revenge.

Loud footsteps smashed into the ground, lasers were fired, bodies hit the floor, the footsteps continued. The machines advanced as they massacred the weak humans that attempted to prevent their rampage, they were nearing the last line of defence. It was a terrible scene, no matter what the soldiers did they couldn't stop what was happening. They were failing. Nothing could stop the advance. The base would be next. Then the Earth.

"What do you mean they escaped! How is that possible? I was assured that they would be kept as prisoners! You've failed me for the final time." The alien stumbled back in fear, and Zaxert took the opportunity to bury a laser blast between his eyes straight through his lungs. As the Karak crumpled dead Zaxert started to give orders, he needed to capture Neutron again as fast as possible.

"Sir a ship is approaching at speed, we believe Neutron is on board." The sadistic smirk returned to the assassin's purple lips.

"I'll deal with this."

Libby maneuvered towards the base, fired the cannons, and then increased her altitude in order to drop bombs on the roof of the steel complex. Suddenly a blast hit their wing, and the ship shook violently. A second blast narrowly missed passing straight through the hull, and Libby scowled when she saw Zaxert behind the controls of a cannon shooting at them.

"Die!" He screamed like a demented man, and fired the perfect shot. It struck the side of the ship, destroyed the wing, and the engines began to fail.

The cruiser spun out of control as it gathered speed, its new course being the ground.

"Do something!" Cindy squealed, terrified at the velocity the ship was heading towards the land at.

"I can't." Libby gasped, realizing that they were going to crash.

"Hold on tight everyone!" There was a collective scream, then the mighty noise of the crash.

Zaxert stood amazed at the smoke rising from miles away, from where the wreckage was. They were dead. It was over. He burst into a triumphant and jubilant laugh, before setting off for Neutron's precious base. The humans were dead all over the world, now all that remained was to finishing this genocide permanently.

**_One of the group is dead! Who do you think it is?_**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter Seven- A chat.**_

The smoke billowed everywhere as the four spluttered and coughed under its intensity. Cindy was first to crawl through the wreckage, attempting to hold her breath for as long as possible at most times in order not to inhale too much smoke. The sixteen-year-old made it out, brushed herself down, and cast a fleeting glance over their former escape ship. Its mangled remains kept her friends prisoner, it kept near the edge of death. Cindy restrained herself from collapsing in tears under the pressure of what had happened, she could only hope now.

Zaxert rounded up his best soldiers immediately after he shot down the ship, and instructed them on what to do next.

"We must attack the base from all angles, if we don't they will kill us all at once. Now I will obviously be the leader of the forces, and Alpha One shall be my second-in-command. We march at once, take no prisoners. Kill everything." The various species and machines saluted their master, loaded their weapons, and set off for the final wave of assault on the base.

Cindy kept a keen eye out for her best friends, and she grew even more worried when they failed to emerge after ten minutes. She couldn't shake off the feeling that they were alive, but trapped within the ruins of the ship. Cindy's nerves were frayed; she needed to know they were alright. She couldn't win the war alone, she need Jimmy, Carl and Libby. Without them she wouldn't have the strength to fight. Her love for Jimmy and his love for her kept them going; it had forged a bond that had power she didn't understand. That nobody understood. All she knew was that she needed her genius now more than ever, or fighting would have no point.

"Jimmy!" She shouted his name, but her only response was an ominous echo that did nothing to help her to cling on to the remaining hope she had. A low rumbling noise came from the wreck, and Cindy's spirits perked up.

"Jimmy?" She questioned anxiously, hoping against hope that he was okay. The rumbling continued, and then the group appeared through the wreckage looking tired and scratched but otherwise fine.

"You're alive!" Cindy squealed, hugged each one of her friends, and then burst into tears.

An hour later Cindy had tended to the others injuries and now they were discussing their next cause of action.

"We kill Zaxert, we end the war, but first we go back to the base." Carl chimed in, and there was a murmur of agreement around the tiny group. They would face Zaxert eventually, however there current priority had to be to return to base. They set off through the wilderness, unaware that the final battle was nearer than expected...

The ship had landed in the last vegetated spot on Earth, the last true jungle. Now the warriors traipsed through the thick bushy trees, Jimmy using a laser sword to cut his way through the plants. Here everything was overgrown, the long wide branches reaching out like outstretched arms to stop their path. A bird would flutter past squawking every now and then, but otherwise the friends were alone. But they always had been. It had been them against every threat, this revolved around them. The four survivors of the first battle with Eustace, the survivors of Razak, the ones who had successfully negotiated Quk to join the universal alliance, somehow everything came back to them and the destiny they had made for themselves three years before. Their destiny: to kill Eustace Strych. To stop his mad reign. They had been fighting ever since. Together they were a force to be reckoned with, apart they couldn't save everyone. That had been Jimmy's vow: never let anyone else lose their life like Sheen. Not if he could stop it. But the vow was broken, Eric was dead. People had died, Eustace made everyone he loved suffer. Not anymore. Not it ended. First Zaxert, then Nick, and then he would dispose of Eustace at long last. Then it would be over, and maybe, just maybe, there would be a happy ending to his life.

The air was heavy, sweat pouring from Carl's forehead as he trampled through nettles to see a clearing ahead. The group soon made camp, and the girls fell asleep, but Jimmy and Carl couldn't get any rest.

"You could stop this." The words were icy, quietly said, but they were still emphasised in order for Jimmy to know what Carl was talking about. The genius didn't want to get drawn into the conversation he had known would come up some day, so he played dumb.

"What are you talking about? Don't you think if I could stop this I would?" Carl sighed, he should have known this would happen.

"The time machine Jimmy, the one contained within the lower levels of the Liberation Base." The game was rumbled, now Jimmy would have to explain everything.

"It's complicated Carl, I can't just go back in time that easily. I could end up changing certain events." Carl laughed darkly, and, not for the first time since Sheen's murder, Jimmy was scared of his friend.

"Events that Eustace helped influence for example? Come on Jimmy, we both know why you're reluctant to change the past." The genius hung his head in shame, he was not prepared to sacrifice this, even though he knew it was costing lives.

"If it comes to the wire Jimmy, promise me you'll do it. Promise me you'll kill him before he's born." No reply came from Carl's lifelong best friend, for the first time he couldn't think of what to say.

"I can't, I'm so sorry, but I can't." He whispered the truth after a few minutes, and Carl wondered if he was admitting it to him or himself.

"I don't believe that you're not prepared to do what it takes Jimmy, what about all the people that need you? What about your friends?"

"Sometimes you have to follow your heart and not your mind." Jimmy told him, and then he rolled away from his friend to sleep.

**_OK, I lied about one of them dying, but I had you in suspense didn't I? Next chapter ends Part One, keep an eye for it!_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 8- Genocide.**_

An eerie silence surrounded the jungle the following day, a silence that signaled an approaching tragedy. Even the birds could tell that something was in the air, a feeling of death. It enclosed everywhere making those who knew of its existence suffocated, it was as if the entire planet was having the same premonition. Doomsday was coming.

The group rose early, they wanted to get an early start on the journey to the base, that way they would reach it by sundown. They walked in silence, they too could feel the shadow hanging over them all. Carl and Jimmy didn't even exchange glances, Carl couldn't believe that Jimmy could be so selfish, and Jimmy couldn't believe that Carl was asking him to give up something that meant so much to him. Libby and Cindy both noticed the hostility between them, but they thought it to be a byproduct of the tension from the approaching battle, and the fact that Carl had been so stubborn when they had attacked the base.

Zaxert Huterx fired one shot into a man's abdomen, then he snapped his neck before proceeding to use a grenade to massacre the oncoming soldiers. It was so easy to decimate the alliance, their skills did not compare to his own. Shot after shot rang through the landscape, body after body hit the ground, until at long last the confident, cruel, merciless chuckle came from the purple lips. The base was his. From here he could ambush every alliance member on Earth, from here he had controls of the every fighter-jet the alliance had, he could use their bombs, the entire human race was nothing now. He could obliterate them all with the single press of a button, it was that easy to commit genocide. The long green finger with its sharpened orange nails reached out dramatically, pressed the button down, and watched the slaughter.

The groups were fighting; and winning. The machine invaders were practically destroyed, victory was theirs! All over the Earth the universal alliance was fighting back, all over the Earth the universal alliance was winning. The tanks let loose their final blasts, then it was over. Then it happened. The tank controllers relaxed, and paid the price. The computers in everyone of the vehicles were going into overdrive, being given new instructions on how to deal with their masters. So they killed them, and took control of the entire vehicle themselves. All the humans received a bolt of electricity down their spine, and then the machines turned. All at once. Tanks turned, and fired on the humans. Planes dropped the bombs on them. The landmines detonated next to them. Everything that had a computer which was controlled by the main base, which was everything, turned on the soldiers who had been celebrating only seconds before. Genocide.

Cindy heard them first, planes overhead. Then she heard the bombs falling.

"Down!" She screamed, and dived headfirst into a marsh in order to prevent being killed. The others followed suit, none of them daring to raise their heads until they were sure the planes were gone.

"That was one of our planes." Cindy said astounded, voicing the thoughts of the group.

"How?" Libby questioned as she looked at the now devestated jungle, unable to understand how one of their own fighter-jets had demolished the wilderness.

"It could be done." Jimmy mused, speedily imagining every way that the jet could have gone rogue. "But it could only be done if someone had control of the base." Everyone came to the same conclusion: Zaxert.

"We've got to move fast, every-one's lives are in danger." Jimmy set off at a steady pace, and it took the others several minutes running to catch up.

"What do you mean every-one's lives? How much can one plane do?" Cindy inquired, not quite understanding what the implications of Zaxert being in control of the base were.

"It's not just the plane; it's everything. Everything that is operated by a computer on Earth is killing their human masters and taking control." Suddenly they realized, they could be the last ones left. The last humans on Earth.

"At least we have a way out of the jungle now." Carl sighed, not quite able to believe how easily they had been beaten.

The group set off once more, dejected, lonely, and defeated, nothing could really raise their spirits. The only thing that kept them going was the thought of butchering Zaxert once they reached their base.

The cold night wind bit into Jimmy's skin as he came within sight of the base. It was surrounded by six guards, two of which were machines, two Karaks, and two Yades. The genius braced himself, and walked out in plain view of them, signalling the others to do the same.

"I wish to speak to Zaxert!" He announced to the creatures, and one of the Yades snarled and hissed.

"Sokom fasert! Hugert a kitom!" It growled, foaming like a rabid animal.

"We don't speak your language." Libby told it, but it only continued to make the strange words in its native tongue.

"I wish to speak to your master." Carl said pointing his gun at them, and a new voice entered the fray.

"I should imagine you do, so come then: speak." Zaxert's low relaxed voice rang through the area, and Carl turned his gun to face the alien assassin.

"So you survived Neutron, I must say that you are resourceful. But your luck has come to an end; Earth is mine. Your alliance is pitiful, its efforts useless. Those that have survived hide in fear of me, those ones brave enough to fight perished. You shall share their fate Neutron, you just as pathetic at them. So, tell me, what is it you want young Neutron?"

"One last battle, to decide the fate of Earth. You against us." Zaxert smiled oddly, it would be an insult to him to have said he hadn't expected that request. Still, it had certain advantages; for example: he could make sure they were dead, the reward was bound to be fantastic if he killed them, and at long last the war would end.

"I expect your challenge Jimmy, but under one condition: you allow me to fight alongside my pet Necroy"

"We agree." Cindy said after the group talked, and Zaxert summoned his pet.

The Necroy was from the world of Acromdort, a wasteland planet where creatures were abandoned. It was like a wolf, but at the same time different. It had six long fangs, four long legs with sharp claws on the paws, it was completely black, its eyes yellow, a long tail that was sharpened at the end, it was a vicious hunter that could kill easily. Jimmy braced himself for the worst, Necroys were recognized as the most deadly and savage of Eustace's army of beasts.

Cindy flicked some hair out of the way of her sparkling emerald eyes, and drew a laser sword. Carl drew two pistols out, Jimmy and Libby both used one gun and one sword. Zaxert spread his arms out wide, shrieked like a demented animal, and charged them at once. At the same time the Necroy pounced, its agile legs carrying it at a speed matching any move Jimmy could make.

Carl ran to his left, firing as many shots as he could at Zaxert; but none of them found their mark. The bounty hunter raced towards him, and maliciously struck him across the chest. Carl flew backwards, shooting wildly as he did so, but still he was no match for Zaxert's speed and strength.

The Necroy zigzagged near Jimmy and Cindy, circling them like a predator its food. Then it materialized near Jimmy, and bit into him with the bloodthirsty fangs. The genius gasped at the agony of the wound, and promptly fainted leaving Libby and Cindy to face the monster alone.

"Just die!" Carl shouted, and he pulled the twin triggers with venom. The lasers struck Zaxert's chest at the perfect angle, blood spurting from the open wound in his upper body.

"Good shot." He gagged, unable to believe he had been hit.

Libby swung his sword wildly at the monstrosity, but it only backed away before circling them once more. Jimmy lay unconsciousness, Cindy kept her eyes sharp for the next attack. It howled, and plunged its tail into Libby's chest.

"No!" Cindy screamed as her friend fell to the ground, a red liquid steadily flowing like a river from the hole. Now it was her against the Necroy, it had beaten both Jimmy and Libby.

Zaxert sprinted directly at Carl, he ignored the muddy brown blood pouring from where the shots had pierced him; instead concentrating on killing Carl. He came straight in front of the teenager, knocked the guns out his hands, and punched him in the face. Carl placed himself in a fighting stance, and launched into a hand-to-hand battle with the murderer of his fiancee.

The Necroy was attacking Cindy from all directions, it nipped her here and there, neither drawing blood or causing any real harm, it was toying with her. The shining yellow headlights that were its eyes stared straight into her, ripping into her just as bad its claws could have done. Then it really assaulted her, coming from behind and knocking her to the ground. It swiped at her right leg and she screamed out in pain, she couldn't move, and the beast was ready for the kill.

Nick Dean's oblivion ship neared Earth now, but he decided to stay away for the moment.

"Sir, Zaxert Huterx is badly injured. It is our belief he may not live much longer." Nick nodded in understanding.

"Send a medical pod immediately, it must go at full speed to Earth. Order it to bring Zaxert to me."

"Yes sir." Nick smiled as the machine walked away to fulfill its command, it would not be much longer before the end now...

Cindy held onto the laser sword, and raised her hands to onto her chest, if she activated the sword at just the right moment, she might just be spared. The Necroy snarled and growled, before jumping at her neck. Cindy took the opportunity and turned on the sword just as the beast's head was above her chest. Green blood splattered all over her as she split the monster in half, before she passed out like her friends.

Carl exchanged more blows with Zaxert before delivering a swift kick to the alien'swound, which merited a fresh howl of pain from the bounty hunter.

"This is over." Carl spat, wiping away the trickle of blood winding its way down his beaten face as Zaxert stumbled and fell. Then, they heard the engines.A pod was approaching at speed, and Zaxert took his last chance. Sweeping his leg around to kick Carl, Zaxert used his last bit of energy to reach the medical pod, which beamed him aboard and flew him away. It would heal him along the way, Zaxert would be in full health within minutes.

Two days later Jimmy was standing on the balcony of the base, when Cindy stood next to him and hugged him tightly.

"We stopped him, Earth is safe." Jimmy only grunted in reply, he was too busy concentrating looking up at the dark night sky.

"What's the matter? We all survived, what is there to be scared of?" The blue eyes came to rest within Cindy's green eyes, and she saw a fear there.

"I'm just thinking Cindy." He wasn't telling her, he was trying to shut her out. Cindy sighed.

"I know you better than that Jimmy, don't do this to me. What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that this isn't over." Jimmy's hand strayed to his chest, there were stitches where he had been bitten.

"How many survivors were there in the end?" Cindy nodded, somethings were too painful to discuss.

"About three million humans reported in." Jimmy shook his head in amazement, three million was better than he had expected.

"How many humans were there before the attack?" Cindy hesitated, this was the difficult part.

"We suspect that were eleven million fighting at the time, but there could have been slightly less."

"Or slightly more."

"We'll make it through Jimmy." He held her close to him, she was everything he had left.

"I know Cind, I know." They wept in each others arms, letting out all the emotions they had in them. Eustace was still out there, but for now; just for this one precious moment. This was enough.

**_End of Part One- Next time- Part Two- Divided they fall._**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Endgame- Part Two: Divided they fall. **_

_**A brief overview of this part of the story- Jimmy and the others go their separate ways to deal with Eustace's attacks, as Carl pursues Zaxert Huterx across the galaxy; Libby encounters the evil Nick Dean once more, and Jimmy and Cindy head to the Sanctuary Base, only to find that evil is never far behind. **_

_**I'm so sorry, I just couldn't find my inspiration and focus for this chapter; but I'm back and better than ever. Here's the first chapter of part two!**_

_**Chapter One- Parting of the ways.**_

The ship was designed from chrome, its interior large, with the constant sound of whirring mechanisms as it restored its occupant to full health. Computer screens read every vital sign in Zaxert's body, the shimmering blue light from the machines scanning for any serious injuries. The alien bounty hunter had been forcibly tranquilized, the laboured sound of his breathing alerted the machines and it scanned his lung. After repairing any major damage to the Culat, the ship docked inside the mother ship, before awaking Zaxert from his heavy sleep and informing Nick desired his presence.

Ignoring the snigger's of the officers he passed, Zaxert strolled through the mother ship quickly and angrily, well aware that rumours of his defeat would have been spurned like flames by a gale. After shooting one Gudas for looking at him twice, Zaxert entered the palace of Nick Dean's personal quarters where he stood before the human awaiting judgement on his failure.

"Neutron is still alive, the resistance is still strong, you have failed Zaxert." Nick said softly, not taking his eyes off the bounty hunter for a moment. His dark and emotionless stare analysing the alien just as well as the medical machines had.

"He shall not be alive for much longer, I have already formulated a new plan. This time Neutron is finished." Zaxert challenged Nick's gaze with his own, but he took his eyes away after a moment.

"Lord Eustace has decided that you are no longer fit to destroy Jimmy, he has left Neutron, and the Earth, to me for destroying at my own leisure." Zaxert was incensed, he had nearly succeeded, he had obliterated millions of soldiers, yet he was still treated as though these accomplishments were worthless!

"He is not an easy adversary to defeat, even you might suffer a loss at Jimmy Neutron's hands." The bounty hunter stated coldly, knowing he had overstepped his boundaries and could be struck down by the human machine at any second. Instead of killing Zaxert, Nick instead smirked knowingly, and stayed his hand from the laser gun hidden in his pocket.

"I have encountered Jimmy and his little band before, and I swore that I would meet them again in battle. I have spent time among them; their moves shall be easy to predict and manipulate to my own advantage. As for suffering at his hands, one of his friends once left their mark on me. I in turn have marked one of them, I shall not be marked again." Nick's usually soft voice became angry as he talked about where Sheen had struck him long ago, and his blood stained hand strayed to the scar left on his cheek.

"I only require one more chance, to regain my honour." Zaxert pleaded, kneeling down and clasping his hands together. He was begging, something that he had never done before. Nick regarded this unusual event with some pleasure, he often reduced people to such a pathetic state. It was something he was an expert at.

"Very well Zaxert, but you may only choose one to wipe out. Choose wisely now, only pick the one you want to kill with your own hands. I get the rest."

"Weezer." Zaxert said not so much to Nick as to himself, eyes filling with a hate beyond hate, he would kill Carl Wheezer.

"Very well then, you may kill Carl Wheezer. The rest are mine." Nick's eyes sparkled unnaturally, evil gleaming in the dead pupils. He had expected as much from Zaxert, he had known that Wheezer would be the target. Zaxert was too predictable. Soon he would attack Libby Folfox, soon he would have his revenge on Jimmy, soon the Earth would fall, soon...

Carl Wheezer rocked back forth in a chair, alone with his thoughts. Carl was concentrating on a picture of himself as a child, with his mother and father around him. They had been the perfect family unit, slightly dysfunctional he knew, but still to him; it had been perfect. He looked into his eyes when he had been so young, and saw something there that had disappeared three years before. Innocence. He had been innocent, blissfully unaware of the evil that had so fiendishly enveloped him in its grasp; but Desmond Hunt had introduced to him to the shadows. He was the one, the one who had murdered his father right in front of him for fun. That was when Carl had realised the terrible truth about the universe, no matter how many times you fought evil, you could never win. There was no defeating the darkness, eventually it swallowed you whole. Succumb to the shadows, or perish at their hands. There was no choice there. There never had been. Carl was no longer innocent, he was longer stupid, he knew that eventually he would die at Eustace's hand. Somehow, he would die. Old age had been deemed too good for Carl, he knew that his only way out of life was to be killed. It was his destiny, and Carl welcomed it. He welcomed death, everything had been taken from him, what the point in living for nothing? He had fought the war for Sarah, for the memory of his father, because he wouldn't allow Eustace to destroy everything that people had worked so hard for. He wouldn't allow other families to suffer like his. But now he knew, there was no hope. He had known when Zaxert had survived, when Sarah had died, what was the point of fighting for nothing? Carl closed his eyes to prevent a tear escaping, he knew it was only a matter of time, death had come for him. _And I'll let him take me._ Carl thought desperately.

King Goobot docked the ship at the Sanctuary Base, the base which the resistance had developed as a secondary command centre in case of a serious attack on Earth. Many other races were here, even whole families fled the massacre of their worlds to come to the Sanctuary Base. The inside was normal, metal machines raced around, registering identities, tending minor wounds, directing folk to the infirmary on the lower deck for more serious injuries. The League had intended to head to Earth, but the planet had issued a crisis warning and said that all people heading to Earth were to head for Sanctuary instead. Tee and the others had left to find someway of communicating with Jimmy, but Goobot had voted to remain on the observation deck and look at Earth. They were far away from the planet, and invisible. Neutron was transmitting a signal that prevented the station from being registered on any scopes, or on any sound wave generators. The base didn't exist, or at least it didn't as far as Eustace was concerned. King Goobot gazed sadly at the Earth, the others hadn't noticed, but he had. An Oblivion Ship. It was on the edge of the solar system, but it would be within firing range in just over twenty-four-hours. Nobody else knew it, but he did. The Earth was doomed.

Jimmy, Carl, Cindy, and Libby were all sat in a large room together, monitoring transmissions from the soldiers as they came in. Everyone but Carl was tending some sort of wound, the Necroy had left its mark and in more ways than one. Nobody mentioned it, but the atmosphere had become darker, heavier, more deadly. Everybody was tired, almost wishing to die just to be rid of the responsibility of saving the universe. Then the wall exploded.

Cindy was the first to react, nimbly dodging to the other side of the room whilst ignoring the excruciating pain in her legs, and she fired a shot at their assailant. The blast halted in midair, and Cindy realised with a sinking feeling that they were trapped in a force-field. Everybody except Carl was frozen inside a prison, able to hear what was happening outside the field, but could not communicate to those outside it.

Carl stood up slowly, grimacing as the dust came to settle to reveal their masked attacker. Behind and around him, Jimmy, Cindy, and Libby didn't move, as if they were paralysed. Two machines followed the assailant loyally, and they wheeled in a projector before Carl. The hood came down, and Zaxert Huterx was revealed smirking from behind it.

"Hello Carl."

A flood of emotions flowed through Carl, but he only took a single step to the side and drew his weapon. He kept his gaze focused on Zaxert the entire time, never taking his steel stare away from the bounty hunter.

"What do you want?"

"Only to show you this." Zaxert clapped his scaly green hands and the projector turned on, a planet the picture it showed. The world was steel, cold and heartless, it bore the signs of one of the many worlds Eustace had captured and converted.

"This is Nudav, a slave world controlled by Eustace." Carl noted the lack of "Lord Eustace," and rather Zaxert's use of the tyrant's first name.

"On this planet, your mother is held captive." The world stopped turning, and silence reigned.

"Nadav has an extraordinary erratic orbit, unless take you there, you have no chance of finding it."

"What do you propose?" The smirk on Zaxert's evil face grew wider, revealing more sparkling, sharp teeth as it did so. He turned, and in one fluid moment shot both the machines.

"I've not come to challenge you for Eustace, but my own gain. Somebody will come to deal with your friends soon enough on Eustace's behalf, but I'm not interested in that. I propose a battle to the death in space itself, a battle not on your primitive world, but on Nudav. If you win, you gain your mother's freedom, and I die. Or you can stay here, and help your friends. You have two minutes before the force-field deactivates, I shall not be here when that happens. Choose Wheezer, this is your final chance."

Carl couldn't believe what Zaxert was saying, part of him accepted it as the truth, after all his mother's remains had never been discovered, but another more cynical part of him said that the bounty hunter was lying to lure him into a trap. Still he had to choose. Carl cast his mind back to not an hour before, how he had wished to be dead, how he had wanted death to come for him. His pleas had been answered. The Reaper approached, reaching out with its skeletal hand, beckoning for Carl to join it in the dark shadowy afterlife of death. Zaxert was his destiny. They were enemies, one could not live while the other breathed, they could only die by each other's hands, much like Jimmy and Eustace. Zaxert was the end. Carl accepted his impending death, he welcomed death, he chose death.

"I accept your challenge." The words were bitter in Carl's mouth, there was no turning back now. From this moment on, he was truly alone. Zaxert was gone, already attempting to jump in to space while he had the chance. Sighing miserably, Carl turned to face Jimmy. There was no need for words between the two of them now, they both understood. Part of him realised that this would be the last time he ever spoke to his best friend, that he should have told him there and then what Jimmy meant to him. He didn't. It was too hard, he couldn't even talk for fear of bursting into tears. Instead he turned his back on his friends, and walked away. He knew they would try to stop him, but it was too late. The Reaper already had hold of him.

The force-field deactivated, and Jimmy sprinted as fast he could after his friend. A flood of tears ran from his shining blue eyes, he cried out his friend's name in the hope of reaching him.

"Carl! Wait!" He quickened his pace, making to the hangar in time to see a ship blast off out of the atmosphere. It was over. Jimmy collapsed onto his knees, unable to believe it. Carl was gone, he had left them. The group was finished.

"Jimmy?" Cindy sat by him, her face stained with tears as well. She understood why Carl had left, but that didn't lessen the blow.

"I'm leaving." Libby said quietly, and Cindy spun around quickly.

"What?" She barked, hoping that her friend had not said what she thought she had.

"Zaxert said that somebody was coming to Earth, I can reach them in space and stop them. I can make sure that they never reach them Earth."

"We can handle them when they come!" Jimmy protested, flinging himself at Libby's knees. He couldn't bare to lose two of his friends in one day.

"No Jimmy, that's a lie. I have to go, you know that. Besides, I have a feeling that I'm meant to find this ship and person, whoever they are." Libby fingered her scar, a gift from Nick three years before.

"You think its Nick don't you?" Cindy whispered, finally comprehending why it was time for Libby to leave them behind. Her friend only nodded in response.

"I know it's him, I don't know how, I just do. I need to face him alone Cindy, I've got to leave. Forever."

"Then go." Cindy muttered, tears stinging her eyes. Libby smiled slightly, and hugged her friends. It was the parting of the ways, the group had to go their separate ways to fight evil. They all had their own destinies, and now each called them.

"What now?" Cindy inquired as Libby flew away. and Jimmy wrapped his arm around her and smiled shakily.

"We head to Sanctuary, I feel like there's something there for us. It isn't our time yet, when the final comes, Eustace will find us. I'm sure of it." As the final ship departed Earth, each friend silently reflected on the others. Fate had torn them away from each other, now the final moves were about to be made. Jimmy was sure of it. Eustace was coming. His destiny approached. The Reaper was calling his siren call of death...


	11. Chapter 11

_**Part Two- Divided they fall**_

_**Chapter Two- No way back.**_

From space, the universe looked peaceful. It looked tranquil, it looked calm, it looked as if good could never be shattered. Looks can be deceiving. All throughout the universe creatures were dying, families decimated, worlds obliterated, species made extinct in an instant. Jimmy watched as the ship piloted itself through the supposedly peaceful universe to Sanctuary, and squeezed Cindy's hand even tighter. A smile graced his handsome features for a second, before returning to his normal look of sorrow and anger. War had transformed him, he was darker now, more willing to kill. Another dead body mattered less and less to him every-time it happened, he supposed he would be immune to it before long. War had neutralised his emotions, in one way he was dead. His relationship with Cindy was not as good anymore either, they were both too occupied with the war to spend serious time with each other. The only glimmer of love in him left was Cindy, her death would still hurt. He wasn't even sure if Carl and Libby's demises would particularly scar him now, he had evolved beyond pain.

Libby weaved through the chaotic cluster of asteroids with ease. Her fast reflexes enabled her to avoid certain death from crashing into one of the massive rocks, she guided the small ship towards the edge of the solar system. She could keep watch there, wait for Nick to show himself. She knew he was coming. It was inevitable that they would meet again, but she had not expected it to be so soon. She thought of the Earth and everything she had left behind, thought of Carl all out there on his own, thought of Jimmy and Cindy and the fragile love they shared. Libby wiped a tear from her eye and continued to wait tentatively, trained brown eyes focusing on the universe around her.

"Show yourself Nick." She muttered and folded her arms patiently, prepared for a long wait.

Cindy stepped back onto the Sanctuary space station and smiled, she had forgotten how beautiful life could be when not in the front line. Her eyes hardened, she visited the war enough in her nightmares, now was not a time to start to looking for trouble whilst in one of her rare dreams. All species came to rest here, it was their last hope of happiness beyond the tyranny of Eustace. She entered her main quarters and was shocked to discover The League Of Villains in there, she drew her weapon instinctively and prepared to fire.

Jimmy wandered the corridors, checking that everything was alright in every nook and cranny of Sanctuary. The genius halted as he went to head down to the lower level, there were things down there he couldn't contend with. Instead he walked away, head hung low in shame of his cowardliness, when he walked into somebody else on the observation deck.

"Sorry." He mumbled, and raised his head slowly, as if was weighed down by the guilt he carried over everything that was happening. The genius stopped where he was, he had walked straight into King Goobot.

Cindy rolled to one side, and let loose several laser blasts. Each missed, but she walked closer, circling her enemies and ignoring their protests.

"Next time I don't miss." She stated coldly, and trained her eye on Grandma Taters, and pulled the trigger. The old woman activated a shield around herself just in time, and then shouted strongly.

"Stop!" Cindy took in a deep breath, but did not fire again. She sat down, crossed her legs, and asked calmly, her long slender fingers drumming on her gun the whole time:

"What are you doing here?"

Jimmy took a fighting stance, and launched a series of kicks and punches at Goobot, but the King countered each one. Jimmy managed to strike him straight in the centre of the King's shell, and the Yolkian grimaced before sending Jimmy flying into a wall with a well placed punch.

"Listen to me Neutron, I'm not here to fight!" Goobot cried out, but Jimmy ignored him. Leaping up from his crumpled heap on the floor, Jimmy ran at the King attacking him over and over again. Goobot withstood the blows, but he knew that if this continued Jimmy would kill him. He threw the genius to one side, and pulled out Yolkius 8000 handgun. Jimmy stood still, if he moved he would die.

"Now you're going to listen to me." King Goobot instructed slowly.

Some time later Jimmy and Cindy met up again and discussed everything that had happened, not sure if they should trust the League Of Villains or not.

"We can discuss it in the morning." Jimmy insisted finally, he was too fatigued to think about all this now. He kissed Cindy goodnight, and she smiled, although the grin was tinged with sadness. He understood how she felt and fell asleep, vainly hoping that he when he awoke all this would be over.

The alarm cut through the peace of Jimmy's dreams like a laser sword through flesh, its wailing summoning him from the land of dreams, into the land of nightmares. Cindy was already up, weapon in hand, waiting for him to come with her.

"Where's the disturbance?" He asked quickly, shifting back into being the soldier he had become.

"The top floor, the memorial room." Jimmy opened the door speedily and dashed up the stairs as fast as his long legs would allow, all the time his finger prepared to pull the trigger and end whoever had activated the alarm.

Cindy rushed through the corridors, amazed at the chaos created by the alarm. Panic ruled with the cruel dictatorship of a madman, his whip being cracked down on the poor innocent refugees who had flocked to Sanctuary for assistance, havoc his enforcer, revelling in the screams and the abandoned children who cried out for their long gone parents. Cindy helped a small Qud to her feet and ushered her back to her room, sad at how quickly her parents had left her at the first time of trouble. She wanted to help all these people, but she couldn't. Her duty was with Jimmy, the near genius reminded herself sternly. She started out sprinting, whatever was going on, it had better be worth all this. Then she realised as she thought of the terrified Qud, nothing was worth this.

Jimmy reached the floor first, and was unsurprised to discover The League hammering on the memorial door, while a howling could be heard from within.

"Goobot!" Jimmy shouted and the members of The League swivelled around to see Jimmy standing there angrily.

"What's going on?" Wheezed Cindy, her face drenched with sweat as she approached Goobot and the others, inhaling deep breathes.

"Its Tee, he went in that room to honour Zix and Trovoltron and now he won't stop crying and shouting." Explained the Junkman softly, his eyes filled with concern.

"He hasn't been the same since their deaths." Grandma Taters added.

"The memorial room..." Jimmy mused quietly, wondering what could have caused Tee to go off the rails like this. Then he realised, in the very centre of the room...

"The monument." Cindy said suddenly, coming to the same conclusion as Jimmy. They exchanged worried glances and burst open the door, where Tee sat dead centre of the room crying at the foot of a huge monument.

"Tee?" The Velex hissed at Jimmy, and leaped towards him grabbing him by the neck and choking him.

"Its your fault, you angered Lord Eustace, and now look what happened because of it!" Jimmy couldn't breathe, something registered in his mind, but he couldn't quite figure out what was wrong with the situation. He needed air, his oxygen starved lungs were screaming for it, but he had nothing. Everything began to go dark.

Cindy stood still for a second, she didn't understand what was going on. But she raised her blaster and set it to stun, and fired twice into Tee. His hands still remained clamped tight around Jimmy's throat, she fired again. The hands slipped a little, but they still gripped tight. Cindy had never seen such perseverance in any creature, but she fired three more shots in the Velex. This time the grip loosened enough for the Junkman to restrain Tee, and Grandma Taters to hypnotize him into falling asleep.

Jimmy began to breathe again, quickly getting in all the oxygen he could. He stared at the sleeping Tee for a moment, unable to believe that he had nearly been killed by the space bandit. Something had been wrong while everything had happened, but he didn't know what.

"Where should I take him?" Goobot asked, and Jimmy sighed.

"Take him to the eighth floor." Jimmy instructed reluctantly, and Cindy gasped at the order.

"The asylum? You're sending Tee to the asylum?" Jimmy nodded, and King Goobot took the Velex away, understanding now was not the time to question Jimmy.

The asylum was a ward for the mentally ill or wounded, those who were too shell-shocked by the war were sent there. Jimmy had never thought he would see the day when he had to have one his friends locked up in there.

The genius stared at the monument for a while, it was the crown jewel of the room. Impossible to miss, Jimmy knew why Tee had been so upset by the grave. Jimmy read the inscription, although he knew it off by heart now: _Sheen Estevez, the first casualty of the war. A good friend, murdered on the orders of Eustace Strych- 31.5.06._

Libby waited and waited, she had thought Nick would have came for her by now. But she had to be patient, if she kept calm and waited then she would be rewarded. Her ship began to move, she was under a tractor beam. An Oblivion Ship appeared out of nowhere as she was sucked into its hangar.

"Looks like patience paid off, if only it paid the money I spent on learning how to be patient." Libby joked with herself as she entered the Oblivion Ship.

Carl followed Zaxert quickly, performing the exact same manoeuvres as his enemy in order not to lose track of him. They came to a planet, and suddenly two nimble fighter ships came behind Carl. They had been waiting for him, it was a trap. Zaxert's smug and gloating face appeared on the communications monitor.

"You said you didn't work for Eustace anymore!" Carl shouted as he dodged two missiles.

"I don't, these are two fellow bounty hunters who are helping me. You're going to die now Carl, but rest assured I'll send your mother up there to you soon enough. You have three days, if you're not back in the orbit of this world within that time period I'll assume you're dead and carry on. Three days Carl, good luck." The missiles circled back around and smashed into Carl's engines, causing him to fly erratically before getting caught in the orbit of the planet. As his ship plunged towards the world, Carl began to laugh hysterically.

"Fear not the reaper." He laughed as his ship began to burn and crash. It hit the planet with a mighty thud and then there was silence. Only disturbed by the occasionally burst of insane laughter from the seriously wounded Carl...

**_There was something odd in this chapter, I suggest you re-read it and discover what it is! Oh and, for my fans who have not read the entire trilogy, I advise you to read Rising Darkness, or else you may not quite be able to relate to the rest of this part! By the way, many chapters in this story will now be named after songs. There may be snippets of information and clues for those who can tell me where the song comes from, and who it is by!_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Part Two- Divided they fall.**_

_**Chapter Three- Welcome to the black parade.**_

Carl heard the creatures first, then the heavy footsteps towards the wreckage. His arm was mangled, unless it was tended to immediately it would have to be amputated. He laughed again, the last of his sanity dwindling away as he began to fade into the abyss.

"There's not much of me left to eat." He gleefully told the approaching aliens, and then he passed into unconsciousness. The aliens picked him up carefully and took him into a hut where he was placed down on a bed. The chief called for a medic, and one arrived promptly.

Libby was dragged out of the cockpit and tossed in front of Nick Dean, who stood above her, not saying a word.

"I knew it was you." She spat, not daring to attack Nick for fear of being struck down by the hundreds of soldiers in the control room. The ship was massive, there was no way she could fight her way through everyone here without being killed in the process. Half of her suggested suicide, as long as she took Nick with her, but she dismissed it. They had not come to the last resort, not yet.

"Aren't you at least going to talk?" She inquired, hoping that confrontation would at least shed some light on Nick's goal. He ignored her, instead kneeling in front of her and fingering her scar. She flinched at his touch, gaining a smile from Nick at her reaction.

"You waited for me." He stated coldly, grey eyes staring into her soul.

"You knew I would." She retorted, but Nick only smirked and returned to absentmindedly drumming his fingers on computer monitor. Libby raised her head slightly and saw Nick fully for the first time in three years. He had changed. His once vibrant black hair was cut so short he appeared near-bald. He was short and thin, spindly little fingers tapping reguarly to a rhymth. The biggest changes were his eyes, they were grey. Cold as ice, they were blank and deadly. Nick had aged, not just physically, but mentally. Libby could see it. He was old, old and weary. His growth had been stunted, there was no way he should have been so small. In fact he had not grown at all for three years, he was the exact same height as he had been at the start of the war. His voice was different as well, it was dead. As freezing as the arctic, as dead as Sheen, as insane as Eustace, as emotionless as the machines that rampaged throughout the universe, his voice scared Libby.

"What are you going to do with me?" Libby questioned, never taking her eyes away from Nick's grey ones.

"I'm going to end this Libby." He told her, and he walked up to her and smacked her across the face. Libby fell onto the hard metal floor, and gasped at the pain Nick had dealt her with a single blow. He kicked her in the chest, and then did it again. He wanted the reaction, wanted to hear her scream in agony.

"Take her away, prepare her for torture." Nick instructed, and the machines took Libby away. She was in shock at Nick's brutality, she didn't even put up a fight. Only the last word registered with her, torture...

Jimmy listened to Tee's demented screams from the other side of the door, why had this happened? Eustace had even driven The League Of Villains to Sanctuary, and he had then succeeded in driving one of them into insanity. Could Sheen's death have been so instrumental in turning Tee into a rabid animal? Jimmy didn't know, he didn't understand. He walked away from the door, he couldn't bare to listen to anymore of it. It was as if they knew he was there, like they were pointing the finger of blame at him. He turned into another corridor and found King Goobot waiting for him, hovering impatiently.

"What do you want?" Jimmy asked the Yolkian, he wasn't ready to deal with all of The League Of Villains yet.

"Only to talk to you." Goobot said, and they began to walk, or hover, down the corridor together.

"You know that a lot of people have faith in you to end this. They think that you're their saviour."

"The saviour of the broken, the beaten, and the damned." Jimmy muttered darkly, remembering them as words spoken a long time ago by somebody who he had met.

"Indeed, I just wonder if you know how many creatures are truly relying on you. The entire universe Jimmy, every living thing in the universe that is not allied with Eustace Strych is relying on you to conquer evil and set things right. Legends are told of you, to them you are a figure of romance, a champion of good, the leader of the pure who will destroy Eustace." Jimmy sniffed at this, he had thought as much, but never had he expected so many to believe him to be the one to end the tyranny of Eustace.

"I'm just a man, I'm not a hero. I'm just a boy, who was meant to sing this song." Jimmy recited clearly, they were some of his favourite words.

"You're going to have to step up Jimmy, accept the challenge of taking on Strych."

"I'm trying Goobot, but things are getting more and more complicated. First of all Carl and Libby disappeared, then you arriving, then Tee going insane-"

"Those things shouldn't be in the equation." Interrupted Goobot, staring straight at Jimmy now, trying to get his point across.

"Those things don't matter, in the end it boils down to you and Eustace, perhaps Cindy can feature in the final battle, perhaps she cannot, you have to take everything else outside of the circle. Its the only way to beat Eustace. He plays upon your emotions Jimmy, he can see how predictable you are, and he capitalises on it. Nothing you do will shock him, and if you can't do that then you can never defeat him."

"Maybe." Jimmy admitted defeat, he knew everything that he had just heard was true, but that didn't mean he had to accept it.

Carl awoke surrounded by aliens, all of whom were tending his various wounds. His arm felt a lot better, obviously this race were medically advanced. The aliens themselves had tentacles for arms, four eyes, no nose, and they changed colour at will. He wasn't sure what race this was, or what planet he was on for that matter, but he knew it had to be somewhere outside of the solar system.

"You will join us in our parade." One told him, and he sat up startled.

"You speak English?" He inquired, and the alien nodded.

"We have translator programs, we speak over 5 billion languages. Now hurry, the festivities for the parade will begin shortly."

"Parade?" Carl asked, feeling dizzy as he stood up.

"Our annual parade: the parade of death."

"Sounds like a time when you people really live it up." Carl joked somberly as he walked out of the hut and onto the planet surface. It was an organic world, exotic wildlife inhabited everywhere. The aliens had formed a circle and were chanting, apparently waiting for a ghost to arrive to communicate with every person on the planet in someway or another. Mist appeared around the centre of the circle and figure emerged from the fog. Carl stared unable to believe that he was here. That this ghost had come for him. Carl fell into a coma from the shock of it all, and the ghost entered his mind. Dark laughter haunted Carl as the last words on his lips were:

"Desmond Hunt..."

**_There are a lot of references to the song in this chapter, and its fairly recent. The next chapter will be out as soon as possible!-badwolf1._**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Part Two- Divided they fall.**_

_**Chapter Four- 2 minutes to midnight.**_

**Warning- Read Rising Darkness before this chapter, especially all chapters with Desmond Hunt in them. Sorry about how late this is, I needed to rethink this entire chapter because of the events that occur that in Chapter 5. And just for those that want one- a clue to the end: Jimmy's final challenge may not be necessarily be Eustace Strych. Deduce what you want from that- until next time- badwolf1.**

Carl wandered in the desolate wasteland, the wreckage of a building ahead in the shadows. He had no idea where he was, or why he was in this Hell, but he began to tread slowly towards the massive building that lay in ruins. Carl stopped when he saw it was, it was the hotel that Desmond Hunt had been in charge of three years before. Suddenly he collapsed onto his knees, taking in deep breathes. A sharp splitting pain erupted in his chest and he resisted the urge to scream.

"It's not as glamorous as it used to be is it?" A voice questioned, ringing throughout the land.

"What are you?" Carl screeched, sanity gone as he was tortured by Hunt's enigmatic voice. A low chuckle came from the hotel, and the building slowly disappeared revealing nothing but more waste, but then the waste then too vanished, leaving nothing but Desmond Hunt.

"Hello Carl Wheezer. Its been a while." Desmond's green eyes shone with an intensity hotter than the sun, hatred shining through the madness.

"You're dead, this isn't real, this can't be real." Carl screamed into the sky, futilely hoping that all this would disappear and reveal the peaceful planet and its occupants once more.

"I am real Carl. Your nightmares, the demons that haunt your every waking moment, the terror in your eyes, I am all of that. The time has come to end my unfinished business with you Carl Wheezer; your friend Jimmy killed me before I had the chance last time." A whip materialised in Hunt's hand, and he lashed out striking Carl with it.

"Die you little pest, its been a long time coming." Hunt muttered maliciously as he advanced upon the sprawling Carl, laughing mercilessly as he savoured every precious moment of the battle.

The body lay chained, what little life left in it ready to be exterminated. The figure watched, neither showing regret or joy at the torture. He simply gestured and more electricity was pumped into the body, her screams piercing the shadows surrounding them. Nicholas Dean stared as Libby suffered more and more, and then signalled to his men to stop.

"Where is Neutron Libby? It will all stop if you tell me where Jimmy is." She shook her head, refusing to reveal anything. It had been like this for the past six hours; by now Libby was little more than a shell, a pathetic body waiting for release. She had been hit, spat at, verbally abused, twisted, exposed to extreme temperatures, even been starved of oxygen for a short period, and now electrocuted. Still she would not say anything to anyone, instead choosing to remain silent. It vaguely amused Nick, he found her resistance to be fascinating, but now it was irritating him. Libby was suspended from a wall, her arms chained to the wall, with her feet receiving the same treatment. Nick slapped Libby around the face hard, but other than gasping at the ferocity of the smack she kept still. He snarled, it was time for serious punishment.

"Bring out the flexible chains." He shouted, and the droids obeyed. Now she would pay.

Hunt crashed the whip downwards, aiming to scar Carl before moving in for the kill. How he had waited for this. Three long years in the void, in the crushing darkness of nothingness, and now he had been summoned from that place. He had heard them, calling out to the dead, to return one last time, and he had taken the opportunity. He had no idea what that place had been, but he had no intentions of returning. When he killed Wheezer he would possess his body, and then he would slaughter Jimmy Neutron, and Eustace Strych.

Carl felt the stinging whip smash into him again and again, but he couldn't stop it. He was powerless, weak, for some reason he couldn't summon the mental or physical will to fight back. He knew for certain that this world wasn't real, Hunt seemed to be in his mind. It was like some sort of fantasy world where whatever Hunt willed came true, he had to fight back. He didn't know how, but Carl needed to fight this. He stood up slowly and, though it took him much effort, turned to face Desmond Hunt. He flexed his muscles and aimed a punch at Desmond, but his reflexes were far too slow and Hunt not only blocked the attack he kneed him in the chest and brought the whip across his face.

"You can't win Wheezer." He stated as he strolled forwards leisurely.

"Don't be so sure." Carl gasped, and he concentrated as hard as he could. He began to focus on his surroundings, and felt the weight lifted from him. Winds began to blow at Carl's command, soon a hurricane was blowing around Hunt, capturing him for a short time. However, the winds dispersed and Hunt glared at him.

"Fine Mr Wheezer, you appear to have learnt some of the basics in this world. Allow me to demonstrate the full power of my mind." The ground began to rumble, and soon a massive abyss opened up between Hunt and Carl.

"Always on opposite sides of the void." Desmond remarked, and then he gestured within it. "Fall inside that and you'll instantly perish, and your soul will be lost within the eternal shadows." Carl looked inside and saw nothing, only emptiness. Then he collapsed, images began to flash before him. His dead father, the way he looked as the bullets sank into him. The empty smile on his face. They were everywhere, and Carl was powerless to fight it. Laughter began to ring out as Carl sunk under the pressure of the past and neared the edge of the abyss...

The new chains were added swiftly, much to Nick's satisfaction. Then he gave the order. At once Libby's body began to twist in all different directions, she had been subjected to this before; but on a much smaller scale. Now all of the limbs were going at once, and she was in absolute agony.

"Tell me where Neutron his hiding." Nick commanded but Libby said nothing.

"TELL ME!" He roared, and Libby finally let a scream erupt from her mouth before whispering one little word:

"Never." Nick raged silently for a moment, if he let the torture continue she would be dead within minutes. But he needed her alive. He may not be able to force something out of her with physical torture, but he had yet to attack mentally. Smirking Nick ordered the torture to end and for a medical droid to restore Libby instantly. He needed her at her best in order to crush her.

"Set a course for Earth immediately." He commanded. "Power up the weapon, I want it to be at full power for this." The Oblivion Ship began to glide towards the planet, readying itself to fire upon its surface and wipe it out.


End file.
